Air-Walker (Gabriel Lan)
Gabriel Lan is a member of the Xandarian Nova Corps and the captain of the diplomatic and exploratory spaceship "Way-Opener". Returning from a mission in space, the Way-Opener was confronted by the vessel of the cosmic entityGalactus, who abducts Lan and offers to transform him into a herald, in a similar fashion to the Silver Surfer. A willing Lan accepts and becomes the Air-Walker. Pyreus Kril, the Way-Opener's first officer and Lan's friend, becomes obsessed with finding Galactus after the abduction. Lan becomes devoted to Galactus, and the closest thing Galactus has had to a true friend. On one journey to seek a planet for sustenance for Galactus, he battles the alien race the Ovoids, who kill Lan, but not before Galactus retrieves and transfers the last spark of Lan's soul to an android body. Dissatisfied with the android, Galactus sends it to Earth to re-enlist the Silver Surfer as his Herald. The Air-Walker encounters the Fantastic Four, and is then defeated by the Surfer, who guesses at the android's true nature. Mister Fantastic reprograms Galactus' ship to take him to the Negative Zone, where he will apparently have an abundance of worlds to consume. The remnants of the Air-Walker are found by the villain Machinesmith. The android eventually repairs itself and reactivates. Believing itself to be the original Gabriel Lan, the Air-Walker attempts to find the Surfer, but encounters the Thunder God, Thor. The Air-Walker's ability to wield Thor's hammerMjolnir reveals its non-human nature, and Thor destroys the android. Another of Galactus' former Heralds, Firelord, learns of the battle and confronts Thor. Firelord reveals that he was once Pyreus Kril, and eventually located Galactus' vessel and confronted the entity. Galactus agreed to reveal Lan's fate on the condition that Pyreus serve him as his latest Herald. Firelord then returns to space with the remains of the android. Firelord and the Surfer eventually revive the android to aid in a battle against Galactus' most ruthless Herald, Morg, who completely destroys the Air-Walker. A version of the Air-Walker and Firelord aid young superhero team the New Warriors against a threat from the planet Xandar. Lan's consciousness is then absorbed into the computer of Galactus' Worldship, and in data form directs Galactus to uninhabited worlds. Although the Worldship is later destroyed in a battle with the entity Tyrant, the Air-Walker is restored to physical form and battles the Annihilation Wave alongside his fellow Heralds, but is destroyed once again. Powers The original Air-Walker possessed the vast cosmic power that Galactus granted to all of his heralds upon their initiation. His body was restructured to be a living battery of cosmic energy, the Air-Walker could utilize cosmic power for a variety of effects: heat, concussive force, magnetism, electricity, etc. Unlike most of the other heralds the Air-Walker utilized this cosmic energy without an accompanying visible manifestation (such as Firelord's "cosmic flame". The Air-Walker could also use cosmic energy to rearrange molecules, although he never became as adept at it as did the Silver Surfer. The cosmic energy augmented his strength, endurance, and durability. At maximum exertion, the Air-Walker could match the strength of the Thing. He could use his cosmic power to peak capacity for several earth months without resting before fatigue or the need to dream began to impair his function. His skin was treated to be immune to virtually all the conventional rigors of space. It took a force greater than the cosmic force invested in his creation by Galactus to kill him. Air-Walker did not need to eat or breathe since he absorbed life maintaining cosmic energies through his cells. The Air-Walker could fly through space at hyper light velocities. While moving through planetary atmospheres, he would curtail his speed so as not to cause catastrophic side effects. The Air-Walker did not employ such conveyances as the Silver Surfer's surfboard or Firelord's baton in order to travel; he traveled and navigated by his own power. Strength level Class 100 Paraphernalia Equipment Gabriel possessed “The Horn of Galactus”, a golden trumpet-like device that could summon Galactus across any distance. Transportation Warp speed travel under his own power. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-Walker http://marvel.wikia.com/Gabriel_Lan_(Earth-616)